Women's Health Dexeus, Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproduction, Hospital Universitari Dexeus, Avinguda Carles III 71-75, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, UPC BarcelonaTech, EEBE Campus Diagonal-Besòs, C. E. Maristany 16, 08019, Barcelona, Spain.
J Assist Reprod Genet. 2020 Sep;37(9):2249-2257. doi: 10.1007/s10815-020-01877-5. Epub 2020 Jul 18.
Microgravity has severe effects on cellular and molecular structures as well as on metabolic interactions. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of microgravity (μg) exposure on human frozen sperm samples.
Sibling samples from 15 normozoospermic healthy donors were frozen using glycerol as cryoprotectant and analyzed under microgravity and ground conditions. Microgravity was obtained by parabolic flights using a CAP10B plane. The plane executed 20 parabolic maneuvers with a mean of 8.5 s of microgravity for each parabola.
Frozen sperm samples preserved in cryostraws and stored in a secure and specific nitrogen vapor cryoshipper do not suffer significant alterations after μg exposure. Comparing the study group (μg) and the control group (1 g), similar results were obtained in the main parameters studied: sperm motility (M/ml) 13.72 ± 12.57 vs 13.03 ± 12.13 (- 0.69 95% CI [- 2.9; 1.52]), progressive a + b sperm motility (%) 21.83 ± 11.69 vs 22.54 ± 12.83 (0.03 95% CI [- 0.08; 0.15]), sperm vitality (%) 46.42 ± 10.81 vs 44.62 ± 9.34 (- 0.04 95% CI [- 0.13; 0.05]), morphologically normal spermatozoa (%) 7.03 ± 2.61 vs 8.09 ± 3.61 (0.12 95% CI [0.01; 0.24]), DNA sperm fragmentation by SCD (%) 13.33 ± 5.12 vs 13.88 ± 6.14 (0.03 95% CI [- 0.09; 0.16]), and apoptotic spermatozoa by MACS (%) 15.47 ± 15.04 vs 23.80 ± 23.63 (- 0.20 95% CI [- 0.66; 1.05]).
The lack of differences obtained between frozen samples exposed to μg and those maintained in ground conditions provides the possibility of considering the safe transport of human male gametes to space. Nevertheless, further research is needed to validate the results and to consider the possibility of creating a human sperm bank outside the Earth.
ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03760783.
微重力对细胞和分子结构以及代谢相互作用都有严重影响。本研究旨在探讨微重力（μg）暴露对人类冷冻精子样本的影响。
使用甘油作为冷冻保护剂，对 15 名正常生育力的健康供体的同卵样本进行冷冻，并在微重力和地面条件下进行分析。使用 CAP10B 飞机进行抛物线飞行以获得微重力。飞机执行了 20 次抛物线机动，每个抛物线的平均微重力持续时间为 8.5 秒。
保存在 cryostraw 中的冷冻精子样本，并储存在安全且专用的氮蒸气低温冰箱中，在暴露于μg 后不会发生明显变化。将研究组（μg）和对照组（1 g）进行比较，在所研究的主要参数中得到了相似的结果：精子运动能力（M/ml）13.72 ± 12.57 对 13.03 ± 12.13（-0.69 95%置信区间[-2.9；1.52]），前向运动精子（a+b）的活力（%）21.83 ± 11.69 对 22.54 ± 12.83（0.03 95%置信区间[-0.08；0.15]），精子活力（%）46.42 ± 10.81 对 44.62 ± 9.34（-0.04 95%置信区间[-0.13；0.05]），形态正常精子（%）7.03 ± 2.61 对 8.09 ± 3.61（0.12 95%置信区间[0.01；0.24]），精子 DNA 碎片通过 SCD（%）13.33 ± 5.12 对 13.88 ± 6.14（0.03 95%置信区间[-0.09；0.16]），通过 MACS 检测的凋亡精子（%）15.47 ± 15.04 对 23.80 ± 23.63（-0.20 95%置信区间[-0.66；1.05]）。
暴露于μg 的冷冻样本与在地面条件下保存的样本之间未发现差异，这为考虑安全运输人类雄性配子到太空提供了可能性。然而，仍需要进一步的研究来验证结果，并考虑在地球以外建立人类精子库的可能性。
ClinicalTrials.gov：NCT03760783。
